Dion's Bus Service is an Australian bus company operating services in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...

History

Dion's Bus Service was founded in 1923 when Thomas Dion commenced operating a service from

to Balgownie followed by a service to Bellambi.History
Dion's Bus Service It is currently the oldest operating bus operator in the Illawarra. From December 1927 until 1931 a coach service was operated to Sydney. In January 1928 it commenced operating route 1 services from Wollongong to Austinmer, along with five other operators. In August 1929, Barney Dion commenced operating a service from Wollongong to

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurant ...

. In the late 1940s, the Balgownie and Bellambi routes were sold. By 1964, through a number of acquisitions, the Austinmer service was operated jointly by Dion's and Jim Hill. In December 1976, Dion's became the sole operator of the service and in the same year, selling the Kiama service to John J Hill at the same time. On 24 February 1992, route 4 Wollongong to Bulli was purchased from John J Hill.

Services

Dion's operates services in the Outer Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Region 12, which was part of Region 9 when the latter was created in 2008. They operate 4 routes in the northern and central suburbs of

: On 1 April 2019 their routes were renumbered as follows: *90: Wollongong, Fairy Meadow,

Corrimal Corrimal is a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall n ...

, Woonona, Bulli,

Thirroul Thirroul () is a northern seaside suburb of the city of Wollongong, Australia. Situated between Austinmer and Bulli, it is approximately 13 kilometres north of Wollongong, and 73 km south of Sydney. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and ...

and Austinmer *91: Austinmer to

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

via Princes Highway *92: Wollongong, Fairy Meadow, Corrimal, Woonona, East Woonona and Bulli. *93: Bulli to

via Princes Highway, East Woonona and Corrimal. *94N: Friday and Saturday nights only late night service between

and Thirroul via Princes Highway. (Since ceased). In addition they operate two free shuttle services from North Wollongong Station to

Wollongong University The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment o ...

via Kids Uni, URAC, Creative Arts Building and Hope Theatre:- *9: UOW North Gong Shuttle - . *9N: UOW North Gong Shuttle A number of community and government stakeholders funded Dion's "Wollongong Summer Bus", a late

night bus service Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, refers to the public transport services operated during the night hours. These services are operated, mainly using buses but in certain cases using trams (or streetcars), not including inte ...

run in central Wollongong during the summer months. The Summer Bus was a drink-drive and drink-walk prevention strategy supported by licensed venues as well as local government, health, police and transport authorities. It was superseded by route 94N which operated for extended hours on Friday and Saturday nights. Route 94N was discontinued from 8 Sept 2019.

Fleet

As at April 2019, the fleet comprised 22 buses. The fleet livery was blue and white until 1989 when a metallic grey, blue and black livery was introduced. In 2010, the

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an List of New South Wales government agencies, agency of the Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government established on 1 Novem ...

white and blue livery was adopted. In the 1950s and 1960s, Dion's built their own bodies on second-hand

Leyland Comet The Leyland Comet was a long running badge used by Leyland for a series of trucks (and the occasional bus) intended mainly for export markets. The name lives on in India, where Ashok Leyland still uses the badge today. First generation The sem ...

truck chassis. In 1989, Dion's purchased two Hinos, these were the first new buses in over 40 years."Dion's Bus Service" ''Fleetline'' issue 177 April 1990 page 61

References

External links

*
WIN News report on the 90th Anniversary of Dion's
{{Regional NSW public transport, state=collapsed Bus companies of New South Wales Transport companies established in 1923 Transport in Wollongong Australian companies established in 1923